opponents claimed that this provision applied equally to the incumbent of an unexpired term as to the incumbent of a full term. The dissatisfaction with Sacasa, which was very evident and outspoken at the time of my visit in the spring of 1891, culminated in a revolution in April, 1893, by which he was deposed, and General Joaquin Zavala, of Granada, the leader of the conservative party, installed in his place. However, the new government was very short-lived, for in July of the same year Zavala was overthrown by the Leonenses, under Zelaya and Ortiz, who proclaimed themselves respectively president and vice-president. Zelaya has held office ever since, having been elected (?) for a full term in 1897. In the fall of 1894 he violated the treaty with Great Britain, above referred to, and took forcible possession of the Mosquito coast, deposing the so-called king. Meanwhile a movement was seton foot in Nicaragua and the adjoining republics of Honduras and Salvador for the formation of a greater republic of Central America. This resulted on June 20, 1895, in the signing of a treaty at Amapala, in Salvador, by representatives of the three first-named republics, as well as of Guatemala and Costa Rica, by which the five states were consolidated into one government, to be presided over alternately for a year at a time by the president of each of the constituent republics. Costa Rica and Guatemala, however, afterward declined to enter the union, but a semblance of federation was kept up for a time by delegates of the other three countries, who resided for awhile at San Salvador and afterward at Managua. These delegates, who constituted what was called a diet were Fiallas of Honduras; E. Mendoza, of Nicaragua, and Dr. J. Castellanos, of Salvador. Under their auspices a constitution was drafted, looking to a more coherent union, and the confederation was called the United States of Central America. That constitution was proclaimed at Amapala on November 1, 1898, and Dr. Salvador Callego, of Salvador; Miguel Agnelugarte, of Honduras; and Dr. Manuel Corrolel Matus, of Nicaragua, were named to exercise the governing power until March 14, 1899, when they were to elect a president. Within a few days, however, a revo lution broke out in Salvador, and on November 30th the union was formally dissolved. In spite of her internal troubles Nicaragua appears to have prospered, for President Zelaya, in his message to congress, January 1, 1896, announced that the foreign debt of $379,379.20 had been paid off, while $2,157,446.63 had been paid on the domestic debt, of which only $1,425,000 remained. That, he calculated, would be liquidated in three years more. CHAPTER III. THE GREAT WATERWAY. NICARAGUA has long claimed the attention of maritime nations on account of the facilities it offers for the building of a ship canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The want of such a communication was felt much further back in the history of civilization than is generally suspected. In truth it was the impelling force that, four hundred years ago, started Columbus out to search for a western passage to the Indies, and so led to the discovery of the new world. Long before the American coast was thoroughly explored, the San Juan River was fixed on as offering a possible way of connecting the two oceans. This suggestion was made by the Portuguese, Antonio Galvao, as far back as 1550. In the interim other routes have been advocated, but careful surveys made by the United States government demonstrated |